Journal of Wine Economics the Journal of the American Association of Wine Economists Editors

JWE01-01Frnt.fm Page -2 Wednesday, April 26, 2006 1:04 PM The Journal of Wine Economics The journal of the American Association of Wine Economists Editors KYM ANDERSON ORLEY C. ASHENFELTER University of Adelaide and Princeton University World Bank VICTOR GINSBURGH ROBERT N. STAVINS Université Libre de Bruxelles Harvard University KARL STORCHMANN (Managing Editor) Whitman College Editorial Advisory Board Jan Bentzen, Aarhus School of Business Richard Quandt, Princeton University Maurizio Ciaschini, University of Macerata Henri Serbat, VDQS Paris Pierre Combris, INRA Ivry-sur-Seine Tom Selfridge, Hess Collection Winery Joyce Jacobsen, Wesleyan University Allen Shoup, Long Shadows Vintners Gregory Jones, University of Southern Oregon Daniel Sumner, UC Davis Jill McCluskey, Washington State University Nick Vink, University of Stellenbosch Stephen Mutkowski, Cornell University Michael Visser, INRA Paris Editorial Office: Journal of Wine Economics Economics Department, Whitman College Walla Walla, WA 99362, email: [email protected] The Journal of Wine Economics gratefully acknowledges the support of Whitman College. Copyright © 2006 by the American Association of Wine Economists; All Rights Reserved. Cover design by Ben Bloch and students at Whitman College, email: [email protected] Journal production by: Amber Woodworth, Whitman College, email: [email protected] No responsibility for the views expressed by the authors in this journal is assumed by the editors or the American Association of Wine Economists. THE JOURNAL OF WINE ECONOMICS (ISSN 1931-4361) is published semi-annually by the American Asso- ciation of Wine Economists, Economics Department, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA 99362. Annual fees for regular membership, which includes a year’s subscription to the journal, are $39. In countries other than the U.S.A., add $6 for extra postage. Further information on subscription and the American Association of Wine Economists can be found in the back pages of this journal. JWE01-01Frnt.fm Page -1 Friday, April 21, 2006 1:13 PM Journal of Wine Economics Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2006 Editorial 1 Introduction: Daniel L. McFadden 2 The Editors Interstate Wine Shipments and E-Commerce 3 Daniel L. McFadden Measurement and Inference in Wine Tasting 7 Richard E. Quandt Introduction: Dennis V. Lindley 32 The Editors Analysis of a Wine Tasting 33 Dennis V. Lindley What Determines Wine Prices: Objective vs. Sensory Characteristics 42 Sébastien Lecocq and Michael Visser Early Sales of Bordeaux grands crus* 57 Philippe Mahenc and Valérie Meunier Assessing the Effect of Information on the Reservation Price for Champagne: What are Consumers Actually Paying for? 75 Pierre Combris, Christine Lange and Sylvie Issanchou JWE01-01Frnt.fm Page 0 Friday, April 21, 2006 1:13 PM Book and Film Reviews George M. Taber. Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine 89 Reviewed by Orley Ashenfelter Alexander Payne (Director). Sideways. Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor Based on the novel by Rex Picket 91 Reviewed by Robert Stavins JWE01-01Frnt.fm Page 1 Friday, April 21, 2006 1:13 PM Editorial It is a pleasure to introduce the first issue of The Journal of Wine Economics (JWE). The JWE is meant to provide a focused outlet for high-quality, peer-reviewed research on economic topics related to wine. Although wine economics papers have been, and will con- tinue to be, published in leading general and agricultural economics journals, the number of high-quality papers has grown to such an extent that a specialized journal can provide a useful platform for the exchange of ideas and results. The JWE is open to any area related to the economic aspects of wine, viticulture, and oenology. It covers a wide array of topics, including, but not limited to: production, winery activities, marketing, consumption, as well as macroeconomic and legal topics. The JWE will be published twice a year and it will contain main papers, short papers, notes and com- ments, reviews of books, films and wine events, as well as conference announcements. In conjunction with the journal, we have formed a companion society - The American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE). The AAWE is a non-profit, educational organi- zation dedicated to encouraging and communicating economic research and analyses and exchanging ideas in wine economics. Its principal activities include publishing The Jour- nal of Wine Economics, which is fully owned and run by the AAWE. The non-profit character enables the Association to keep subscription prices low and, therefore, guarantees a wide distribution. Details of how to join are provided on the inside of the back cover and at www.wine-economics.org. The launch of this journal would not have been possible without the generous financial support of Whitman College. We are particularly grateful to George Bridges, the President of Whitman College, and Patrick Keef, its Dean of Faculty, for their support and encour- agement. Kym Anderson, University of Adelaide, CEPR and World Bank Orley Ashenfelter, Princeton University Victor Ginsburgh, Université Libre de Bruxelles Robert Stavins, Harvard University Karl Storchmann, Whitman College JWE01-07.fm Page 91 Friday, April 21, 2006 1:16 PM Book and Film Reviews 91 ALEXANDER PAYNE (Director), Sideways, Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Based on the novel by Rex Picket. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2004, 123 min. Anyone who is fairly serious about wine — from the relatively casual collector to the most knowledgeable oenophile — will tend to be skeptical about a commercial movie, particularly a Hollywood studio movie, in which wine consumption plays a central role. But very early in Alexander Payne’s “Sideways,” when Miles (Paul Giamatti) — a sad-sack, failed writer of novels and a lover of the grape — explains to his friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) — a good-looking but over-the-hill television actor — how a white sparkling wine (1992 Byron) can be made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes and yet not exhibit even a tinge of red color, the first evidence appears that this movie about wine may have gotten it right. That verdict was cemented for me just a few scenes later when the friends are driving through a bucolic countryside of vineyards in Santa Barbara County, at the beginning of what is to be a week-long bachelor party for the two in wine country prior to Jack’s wed- ding, where they eventually meet up with love-interests, Maya (Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie (Sandra Oh). Miles recommends a local winery to visit because of its excellent Chardonnay, at which suggestion Jack says, “I thought you hated Chardonnay.” Miles quickly responds, “I like all varietals. I just don’t generally like the way they manipulate Chardonnay in California — too much oak and secondary malolactic fermen- tation.” At that moment, in a dark theater in Brookline, Massachusetts, I turned to my wife and said, “This is going to be good!” And it was ... the first time I saw it, the second time, and the third time (which was at home with friends and a meal and a set of wines to accom- pany each of the scenes). This is a seriously good movie, indeed an excellent one, the most recent of a long line of “road movies” that themselves are part of a “road literature” that includes Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Henry Miller’s The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, and Hunter Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But back to the movie, and the wine. In “Sideways,” Miles is a classic oenophile, even if most of us would prefer not to be identified with a character who is (otherwise) distinctly unattractive in so many dimen- sions. But Miles gives himself away with his assessment of the nose of the first wine he and Jack taste at the first winery they visit (which was in reality, Sanford): “... a little citrus... maybe some strawberry... passion fruit... and there’s a hint of like asparagus... or like a nutty Edam cheese.” With such descriptions of wine — and that’s only the first of many in the film — it may come as a surprise that there is no mention, none whatsoever, of wine ratings, those numerical assessments popularized in the United States by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and The Wine Spectator. Long discussions in the film about specific wines — old and new — never mention ratings. Why? A clue is found in the novel on which the movie is based, Rex Pickett’s excellent novel of the same name, published in 2004 (St. Martin’s Press). JWE01-07.fm Page 92 Friday, April 21, 2006 1:16 PM 92 Book and Film Reviews In the book, when Miles is packing for his trip, he tosses into his suitcase a copy of Jan- cis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine (Oxford University, 1999), which he describes as the “brilliant and exhaustive tome on everything you ever wanted to know about the universe of wine. ... I wanted to have with me the one book that had supplied me with all the basics of my one undying passion...” So, Jancis Robinson is his guru. And if you have read Robinson’s entertaining autobiography, Tasting Pleasure: Confessions of a Wine Lover (Viking, 1997), you know of her complete disdain for numerical ratings. For those who have not yet seen the film, let me offer a checklist of wines that make appearances, some only very briefly. If you are able to identify every one of these in the film, you deserve to open a particularly good bottle tonight from your cellar: 1992 Byron Sparkling, Sanford Vin Gris, Kalyra Chardonnay, Kalyra Cabernet Franc, Fiddlehead Sau- vignon Blanc, 2001 Whitcraft Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley), Sea Smoke Botella Pinot Noir, Kistler Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Latour Pommard 1er Cru, Hitching Post Bien Nac- ido Pinot Noir, Hitching Post Highliner Pinot Noir, Andrew Murray Syrah, and 1961 Cheval Blanc.

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